As of October 2024, Da Nang had established a combined total of more than 304 5G broadcasting stations, up 2,763% against 2021, covering 26% of residential areas in 15 out of the 56 wards and communes. The city’s 4G mobile network coverage had reached 100% in villages and hamlets with low signal and national grid electricity. The 5G population coverage is expected to be over 50% at the end of 2024.

The upgrade of telecommunications infrastructure greatly supports the economic and social development of rural areas. Photo: CHIEN THANG

Before being covered by 3G/4G network, people in Hoa Bac Commune, Hoa Vang District, encountered many difficulties and limitations in accessing information technology.

Mr. Ho Phu Thanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Bac Commune, said that the locality has coordinated with relevant units and enterprises to install many base transceiver stations (BTS), as well as donate 50 smartphones and 4G SIM cards to households living in difficult circumstances in the two villages of Ta Lang and Gian Bi.

Up to now, 100% of households in these two villages have had smartphones. Thanks to that, the commune has widely deployed pilot models of information technology application and digital transformation in a number of villages to guide people in technological and information achievements, as well as support businesses and production households to participate in e-commerce and social networking platforms.

Benefiting greatly from the policies, activities, and support for the development of the city's telecommunications infrastructure, Mr. Dinh Van Hin, Head of Ta Lang Village in Hoa Bac Commune expressed that since the 4G network was deployed, people's lives have had many positive changes. 80% of people have level 2 electronic identification accounts; 100% of people of age have public service accounts; and 64.3% of people have non-cash payment accounts.

Hoa Vang District is the main agricultural and crop production area of ​​the city, so the development of 4G/5G network facilitates the promotion of rural economic development, and opens up opportunities for agricultural production and local products to reach larger markets.

Mr. Nguyen Thuc Dung, Vice Chairman of Hoa Vang District People's Committee, informed that in terms of public interests, the district has worked with telecommunications enterprises to donate 938 smartphones for poor and near-poor households so that 100% of residential areas in the district have been covered by 4G.

Meanwhile, 17 5G broadcasting stations have been deployed at 10 out of the 11 communes in Hoa Phong Commune alone. Up to now, 82.4% (132,762/161,128 smartphones) of the total population have smartphones; 100% of village cultural houses have free wifi, meeting the internet usage needs of the people, contributing to improving the intellectual level of the people, and connecting with the government in implementing public services and promoting propaganda work.

Coverage and upgrading of telecommunications infrastructure create sustainable development value for the tourism, services and rural economy. Some eco-tourism areas in the district such as Glamping Farm, An Phu Farm, An Son Farm and Raku Farm are facing obstacles when telecommunications infrastructure is not guaranteed whilst mobile networks are weak and unstable. This problem hinders the development of tourism and services in areas far from residential areas.

For instance, the ​​over 50ha tourist area combined with agricultural development Bana Rita Glamping Farm in Hoa Phu Commune, Hoa Vang District, welcomes more than 15,000 visitors every year but the 3G/4G mobile network infrastructure is still unstable, weak signal, and some experience points have no network.

Mr. Le Thanh Tuan, Director of Bana Rita Farm Glamping, said that many tourists have suggested the tourist area add broadcasting stations to maintain connection, communication, and live broadcast. With the direction of forming a digital tourism destination, he hopes to soon receive attention and investment to synchronise infrastructure to build a comprehensive and sustainable development ecosystem.

Mr. Nguyen Thuc Dung said that Hoa Vang District has established a fixed broadband fiber optic cable system to the villages, ensuring that 100% of households have access to high-speed broadband fiber optic internet services when needed.

The locality is coordinating with telecommunications enterprises such as Viettel, VNPT and Mobifone to upgrade and add broadcasting stations in tourist sites and sparsely populated areas. In addition, public activities for poor and near-poor households are being strengthened to develop goals of raising awareness and knowledge of the people, he informed.

Moreover, the municipal Department of Information and Communications has a plan to develop a low-bandwidth telecommunications network for areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial mobile phones or are ineffective and difficult to install and deploy. Although the speed is slower than the high-bandwidth network, the low-bandwidth telecommunications system has the advantage of a wide operating range of up to 50km for open areas, 2-10km for residential areas; thousands of devices can be connected simultaneously. This is a solution to operate low-bandwidth telecommunications services to maintain connectivity and coverage in most remote areas and clusters because the current residential clusters or hamlets with low signal coverage are very small, with only about 15-30 households. The goal is that by the end of 2024, the city will strive to complete the installation and supplement the 5G network to cover more than 50% of Da Nang's area.

Reporting by CHIEN THANG - Translating by M.DUNG